Monday, August 25, 2008

Last Saturday - after a long day of racing at NorCal Hobbies - I decided to stop by an old stomping ground I frequented with my bike as a kid - known by many names, such as "The Pit" and my favorite, "Cowabunga". I was tired and really wanted to go home and relax, but something kept urging me on to at least take a look. I had been recommending this spot to others as a good "basher" spot for months, but still hadn't been there to see it myself in years.

I'm glad I did!

Now, this is a bashing area folks! By my guestimate - this area was created sometime back in the 70's by kids looking for a spot to ride their BMX bikes - and some 30+ years later, it's still here and is better than ever. I'm not sure who maintains this area, but it definitely looks like it's increased in size and quality from my memories of it as a kid.

Many of the jumps there are just ridiculous, but if you run a mod or something with a little "oomph", you just might clear some of these monster jumps Just make sure to bring spare parts!There are a few tame areas, with some smaller jumps - and I think this could be a pretty neat place to do some BAPRCC Spec Slash races. It's worth noting that the surface is very loose, so be prepared for that.

Friday, August 22, 2008

According to the official Losi website, they will be releasing a brand new RTR 1/10 Scale vehicle on August 29 priced at $179.99. What will it be? Your guess is as good as ours. Perhaps a CORR truck to compete with the very popular Traxxas Slash? It makes sense, but does Losi have the cajones to do it? I guess we'll find out soon.

If you sign up for Losi newsletters, you can find out a day early on August 28, here.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

We have a small group meeting up tomorrow evening at Mother's Raceway in Foster City at 7:00PM. Since most coming to the meet won't be racing the Spec Class 1/18 scale, we will probably not setup the full track, but rather just use some track elements (ramps, etc) for something more along the lines of "bashing".

Monday, August 11, 2008

Last Saturday, a few guys from the club headed out to NorCal Hobbies for some off-road racing action. For 2 of us (myself & Badger), this was the first taste of racing either of us have experienced in many, many years. We both ran in the Slash class, which was so large they had to split it into two heats. For all three of us, this was an absolute blast of a day!! We even had the chance to meet a fellow club member, FabolousRC, who introduced himself to us! Again, it was a pleasure to meet you, Fabolous! Also, Hopbot (Michelangelo) took TQ in the qualifying rounds for the Rookie class, and finished2nd in the main!!! Congrats!!

Quick video of a Slash qualifying round:

I had a ton of fun, but realized quickly that something wasn't quite right with my setup. After practicing at NorCal in the weeks before, I decided to swap out the standard receiver that came with the Slash and replace it with one that would work with my JRXS3 radio (no need to worry about frequencies at the track). From then on, my Slash seemed sluggish, and definitely didn't have the same power that it had before. After talking to Hopbot about it, he took a look at my radio and figured out the problem for me: My end point adjustments weren't set to the end!! Duhh!! A big thanks to Hopbot for that!!So after that fix, my Slash had nearly 30% more power - a huge difference! I was now able to easily clear the second jump on the triple, instead of landing on top of it and flipping on my lid as well as get up to speed on the straight. Hopbot made the fix for me before we started the Slash Main, which they decided to experiment with by combining the entire Slash class for a ridiculous 16 truck field which was totally fun, but not something they will do again. It proved to be way to chaotic for announcing, and more importantaly, turn marshalling. They simply couldn't keep up with the amount of trucks that needed attention, nor could they always see where a stranded truck was located.

After the races, John -the race director, informed me that they will cap future Slash races at 10 trucks. With that said, my times improved greatly in the Main for me when compared to the qualifying rounds. I was much more confident and my truck handled the track much better as a result of the earlier fix. Unfortunately, there was an issue with the house transponders and they weren't able to get results on all 16 trucks. Apparently, the times were counted, but they will have to do some "digging" to get them. Hopefully that will happen so I can see how I did in the main.

Hopbot's First Qulaifying Race: Rookie Off-Road

Here are a few quotes about the day from the the other guys:

Badger (John): "That was an absolute blast yesterday and that was mostly because B-dog and hopbot was there to battle in the same Slash class and hang out with all day....Thanks again to B-dog and hopbot for hanging out with me and making the day very fun."

Hopbot (Michelangelo): "Hey there all! NorCal really was a blast yesterday! The track is even better than before: much more flow, less treacherous triple in the front (although no lack of carnage in the 4wd mod mains) and incredible traction.....overall it was a great day! it was awesome having other baprcc guys out there and it actually makes you feel a little more confident knowing you have some supporters there. Next race day: August 23rd. I cant wait!"

Friday, August 8, 2008

Hey there all; a few of us (me, B-Dog, maybe Catalyst) are heading to NorCal Hobbies for their twice-monthly Saturday off-road racing. It would be great to have a few of us representing BAPRCC!

I'll be racing rookie class with the B44 and the Slash class. I'm guessing Cat will bring his Slash and J82, and B-dog will bring his Slash along as well!

The track opens bright and early at 8am and racing usually starts between 10am or 11am. i hear that this might be a really big turn out (some are predicting triple digits!), so if you plan to race get there early to secure a pit table (or bring your own). B-Dog will be bringing his table (a 6-footer).

If you are interested in racing or just watching the amazing drivers that turn out to at NorCal, reply in this post, it would be great to see you there!

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Our first ever meet at the new Foster City Mother's Raceway location was a great event. No Spec Class racing happened - Instead, the track was quickly taken over my just about every type of RC vehicle available!! Let's see if I can remember all of them: From what I recall, the following vehicles appeared at one point or another: assorted Associated RC18's, Evader BX, E-Maxx, E-Revo, two Slash's, mini-inferno, T3, 2 crawlers, and I believe "Jello" busted out a touring car of some sort.Needless to say, watching all those different types of vehicles tear around (and apart) the track was pretty hysterical.

Thanks to the newbies (Badger, BeeFzX3, Jello, and Kurt) for coming out! It was really nice to meet and see you all in person! Of course, thanks to everyone else's continued support as well.I want to personally thank each and everyone of you that made the effort to come down, bring munchies, setup, tear down, etc. On behalf of the club, we really appreciated it! For more pictures of this event, click here and here (thanks for the pictures, Jello).

As a side note, there is now talk of getting together to run a Slash class as well. More details to come.

Oh, and thanks to "Badger" for sacrificing his Slash for our entertainment. That thing was absolutely flying off those ramps!! Must have gone at least 20 ft. in the air!

Monday, August 4, 2008

Reminder: This Wednesday evening we are holding an Official Club Meet and Spec Class Races / Practice. In addition to the Spec Class, the track will be open for general driving. Setup will begin at 6:30-7:00PM.

If you plan on stopping by and joining in on the action, please feel to let us know by leaving a comment on the message boards here.

So please, come on down and have some fun and laughs and help kick off our first ever meet at Mother's Raceway in Foster City! (formerly located in South San Francisco).

We will also be grilling up some Kosher Hot Dogs for all. If you plan on coming and would like to bring something for the BBQ, the club would truly appreciate it.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

I went out to NorCal Hobbies in Union City on Sunday and had a total freakin blast on the off-road track! I brought out my RC10T4 and Traxxas Slash, and got 'em dirty. The new track layout (yes, they've made some additional changes to make it more friendly to beginners and slash's) is awesome. Still a chance for some great hangtime, but they eliminated some of the crazy angles/jumps that sent many a car/truck on it's lid, or to the sidelines with broken parts and replaced them with something, more,...tame. Kudos to the crew who worked on the track. It's fantastic.

The Slash continues to be a very popular ride - it seemed like just about eveyone running off-road had one. I am truly amazed at how fun and durable these things are. Here is a short video of the new layout:

MoMo got to do some on-road driving thanks to a regular who lent her one of his cars! I didn't catch your name, but if you happen to see this, thanks a lot for that!!

Oh, and after the trip to NorCal, my GF and I drove by the parking lot of Hobby Town USA in Fremont, and low and behold, they setup a temporary asphalt track every Sunday (in the parking lot) - open to the public for free. All scales are allowed, both electric and nitro, and there were about 10 guys out there. Setup is usually between 10Am-12PM, and take down tends to be around 5-6PM, depending on how many guys are running. I grabbed a few pics to share with the group (below). For more pics from today's action, click here. Check out this video for footage from an on-road race put on by these same people.

BAP-RC Club in Action: Slideshow - Click Play to View

Welcome to the Bay Area Peninsula RC Club.

Q: What is theBAPRC Club?A: Where Bay Area RC Enthusiasts come together to share their passion for the best hobby in the world!

If you are an RC car enthusiast, we already consider you a member. We are always looking for new people and meet regularly to share tips, stories, and of course, drive! All types of cars and trucks are welcome.

Bay Area Peninsula RC Club is a Non-Profit Organization dedicated to spreading the Radio Control Car Hobby in the San Francisco Bay Area. Membership is currently free.